SUPERSTITIONS: A COLLECTION
Come october it is festive time in India. At the happy
moments let us also look to some interesting superstitious
believes and think over them.
Who decided Friday the 13th was an unlucky day?
Why should breaking a mirror bring us bad luck?
Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?
The superstitions of our forefathers are still very much
alive today. Some of them have remained unchanged for
hundreds and even thousand of years.
Why do we still believe in them?
Superstitions take us to our distant past, the darkest
shadows of the Middle Ages... Pagan Europe ...and we journey
into the oldest magic and into our deepest group memories...
Well, you might say:
"I am not superstitious!"
and click away ....BUT WAIT!!!
Please read the next few lines...
Hi, just imagine...
You wake up at the sound of the alarm and you notice that
it's Friday the 13th! You stagger into the bathroom, drop
the mirror, and bingo! Seven years of bad luck! Friday the
13th alright, it is really going to be your unlucky day!
During the preparations of breakfast there are now several
cautions to be observed:
don't stir you companion's cup as this will stir up strife -
don't spill the milk or open the egg at the small end -
don't spill the salt, and don't burn the toast!
Well, in your agitated state you manage to burn the toast so
badly that it catches fire in the toaster. As you attempt to
save the blackened bread from setting the whole house on
fire, you realize that you have done it again! Burnt bread,
naturally, feeds the devil, and he will be lurking very
close behind to avoid the salt that you will for sure be
throwing into his eyes before very long.
As you leave your house on your weary way to work, you avoid
anything that might offend the fates. A ladder!!! You
carefully step around it, what a relief, but the wind
catches you unawares and you sneeze. It happened so quickly
that you didn't have time to put your hand in front of your
mouth. Now you are in trouble for sure, for your soul has
unceremoniously escaped from your body.
You arrive at work, surprisingly still in one piece
considering your bad luck so far, and someone says: "Well,
you sure got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!"
No kidding! You mumble something about it being Friday the
13th and stagger to your desk. Tripping over your own feet,
you look down at your shoes and realize that a lace is
broken! Now apart from the intense embarrassment involved
that you are walking around like a bum with a broken
shoelace, you realize that thunder and lightening will
strike before noon. In order to fix your laces, you place
the shoe on your desk. Oh no! You forgot! There will be a
serious quarrel at home tonight. The shoe also must never be
worn again, for such shoes can only be employed for the long
walk into the underworld.
So in the midst of broken shoelaces, sore feet, impending
household unrest, not to mention the horoscope which was not
at all encouraging this morning, you are by now convinced
that, if this day isn't your last, then for sure you will be
fired from your job, have a serious accident, end up
divorced and be mutilated for the rest of your life.
Eventually, somehow the day passes and you are still
miraculously alive.
Dinner time! It seems almost that we can barely avoid the
devil when it comes to feeding time. Water spilt, salt
spilt, a fork or a piece of meat dropped. All these things
will permit him to lean closer over your shoulder, where he
normally waits for these accidents to occur. Pick up the
spilt salt and quickly throw it into his eyes, right to
left, over the shoulder, and you may blind him long enough
to escape the moment of bad fortune. Salt is the saving
grace, for it is the purest substance on earth and stronger
than holy water which you are unlikely to have on tap
anyway. Keep a few pounds of pure salt around the house for
emergencies. Buy enough to pass them to all the guests that
leave your house. This will store up your good fortune for
the future, like a savings account, with interest.
This may not be precisely you, but how about breaking a
mirror? How about the ladder, the fallen salt, the black
cat, Friday the 13th? Or what about lines in the pavement,
kissing under the mistletoe or many other seemingly innocent
events?
There are literally hundreds of such common daily activities
which we still observe with some trepidation. We may have
lost the original meaning and we may cast doubts as to the
real dangers involved, but most of us prefer to observe the
ancient lore, just in case?
BEDS
Getting up in the morning is still more important than going
to bed. And getting out of the bed on the right side (as
opposed to the wrong side) is vital for the coming day.
It seems that this superstition originated from the idea
that anything left-handed was unnatural, on the basis that
the majority of humans were right-handed! Left feet were
unlucky, as were left hands, so that getting out of bed on
the left side had also to be considered unlucky.
Bed-making must also be performed according to certain
rules.
When making the bed, don't interrupt your work, or you will
spend a restless night in it -
Avoid sneezing, or the soul rushes out of the body and into
the bed and again will bring poor sleep -
(those poor folks with hayfever!!!)
Never turn a mattress on a Sunday -
If you make a bedspread, make sure to finish it or marriage
will never come to you.
BELLS
The sound of church bells was once believed to drive away
demons, that brought storms and pestilence. But in pre-
Christian times as well as later, ordinary bells were used
to defeat spirits. The idea that these entities dislike loud
noises still survives in some crop-protecting customs of the
Balkans and Central Europe.
Church bells were often pealed during thunderstorms to
prevent damage by lightning, and to protect those within
hearing range.
Wherever this bell sounds,
let the power of enemy retire,
so also the shadow of phantoms,
the assault of whirlwinds,
the stroke of lightnings,
the harm of thunders,
the injuries of tempests,
and every spirit of the storm-winds.
Ordinary bells have their superstitious lore as well as
those connected with churches. If one rings, the omen is
bad. If two ring at the same time, it is a sign of parting.
If one stays silent and places a finger over the lips during
the ringing, the omen may be averted
Birthday Cake
We place candles on a birthday cake and blow them out with a
wish. The very concept of the birthday celebration is as
ancient a superstition as any. The blowing out of the
candles began with the Greek tradition in honor of the
birthday of Artemis, goddess of the moon, marriage and
childbirth. For this occasion special cakes were baked in
the shape of the moon and candles were placed on altars
within the temple. During the celebration the candles were
to be blown out with one breath, and Artemis would then gaze
favorably upon her worshippers.
CATS
The cat has always had a very special place in folk-belief.
At various times, and in different places, it has been
regarded as holy or as a diabolical beast, as a bringer of
good fortune or as an omen of evil. In antiquity it was
sacred to more than one divinity.
The Egyptian Bast was cat-headed and attended by cats. To
kill one was sacrilege.
The witchcraft of the Middle Ages turned the black cat into
a creature that changed shape and helped perform rituals and
spells for the witch.
If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune,
but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it.
Mothers should always keep cats away from babies because
they "suck the breath" of the child.
If we watch cats while they snuggle up to us on our laps,
they will come close to the mouth and sniff. One can imagine
how this might have seemed, given the fear of dark forces,
like a sucking motion that might endanger a child by sucking
out its life.
Many people today still fear the black cat that crosses our
path.
But remember, cats are wonderfully independent creatures;
they obey no one. Because they are not obedient, in some
circles they have a bad reputation - similar to independent
women. But what kind of world would it be without cats - or
independent women?
THE OWL
Owls have carried a mixed bag of superstitions since time
immemorial. The ancient Greeks revered owls and believed
them sacred to Athena. Affiliated with the goddess of wisdom
and learning, the owl was considered wise and kind. But
somewhere in time, the owl's reputation plummeted and hearing
the hoot of an owl is now associated with bad luck.
To counter evil owl power
put irons in your fire. Or throw salt, hot peppers or
vinegar into the fire, the owl will get a sore tongue, hoot
no more, and no one close to you will be in trouble.
When you hear an owl, take off your clothes, turn them
inside out and put them back on. You might not want to do
this if you are in public.
But there is one superstition that's good - good for us
women that is. Any man who eats roasted owl will be obedient
and a slave to his wife. Wives, get out you frying pan!
SALT
Food occupies a vast area of interest for the uncertain of
heart and new superstitions are being born every year with
every new diet that is published. But if we go back in the
more distant past we find most readily the presence of the
purest substance on earth as the beginning and the end of
ritual insecurity. Salt was the one absolute pure substance
as well as being the most common preservative, and no
medieval home was without several bags of it.
Salt came (and still does) from Mother Earth, from the sea.
The tears and the saliva taste of salt. Man's most readily
available food came from the sea, and his world was more
ocean than land.
"With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt." (Leviticus
585 B.C.) In Homer's Iliad Patroclus scatters the embers and
lays the spits above them after sprinkling the meat with
holy salt for sacrifice to the gods. Probably the use of
salt as a condiment and embellishment for food arose simply
from this ritual. It helped to appease the gods and it
tasted good too!
All the way from ancient Greece until today, the spilling of
salt is the most unlucky of accidents unless you quickly
take a pinch and cast it over the left shoulder right into
the devil's face. For the devil dances at our left side just
waiting for our sinful natures to give up our soul forever.
Salt will temporarily blind "Old Nick" until the soul can
once again be secured by good fortune.
At the table never pass the salt directly to another, but
set it down so that it may be picked up again.
Fishermen leaving for a day's haul would be showered with a
little salt for good luck. The most ancient sources of
superstitious rituals such as these lie in the lores of the
land, where men and women acted in cooperation and respect
for the substances of the ocean and the land in the hope
that the feeling would be reciprocated.
< SHOES> SHOES
Do not place shoes upon a table, for this will bring bad
luck for the day, cause trouble with your mate and you might
even lose your job as a result.
The origin of this superstition was the habit of placing the
shoes of the deceased on the coffin.The unlucky person who
placed shoes on the table tempting the gods, was forced to
walk around in stocking-feet. For those shoes were now
destined to be worn for the last walk into the underworld.
THESNEEZE
When someone sneezes, we say "Bless you", or "Gesundheit"!
(Health in German)
Tiberius Caesar in AD 150 would ride around in his chariot
and shout "Bless you" to any member of the public that
sneezed. Evidently the offer of blessing arose from a
serious disease that attacked the early Romans in which
sneezing was the main symptom. Sufferers frequently died as
a result, although it was believed that the more blessings
were offered, the less likely was the chance of death.
It was also thought to be a form of well-wishing. "God bless
you" and "Gesundheit" were offerings of good health and care
to those that sneezed.
Sneezing was also common among sufferers of the bubonic
plaque during the Middle Ages in Europe, and so the custom
of blessing the sneezer continues to this day as a worthy
precaution.
Also make sure to place a hand in front of your mouth when
sneezing. Your soul may escape otherwise.(As well as germs)
If you sneeze on a Monday, you sneeze for danger;
Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger;
Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for a letter;
Sneeze on a Thursday, something better;
Sneeze on a Friday, sneeze for sorrow;
Sneeze on a Saturday, see your sweetheart tomorrow.
Sneeze on a Sunday, and the devil will have domination over
you all week!
God would certainly need to bless the hay-fever sufferer!
